Language and Social Change Archives — Planet Word Museum The museum where language comes to life Mon, 29 Jan 2024 22:27:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://planetwordmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/cropped-PW_Logo_BLUE_circle-2-1-32x32.png Language and Social Change Archives — Planet Word Museum 32 32 Choosing the 2023 Word of the Year: Q&A with Ben Zimmer and Kelly Wright https://planetwordmuseum.org/choosing-the-2023-word-of-the-year-qa-with-ben-zimmer-and-kelly-wright/ Thu, 18 Jan 2024 21:43:25 +0000 https://planetwordmuseum.org/?p=8015 Since 1990, the American Dialect Society has annually unveiled a Word of the Year — a newly prominent word that reflects significant events, societal shifts, and prevailing themes over the…

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]]> From the Founder: Putting Aside Words as Weapons https://planetwordmuseum.org/from-the-founder-putting-aside-words-as-weapons/ Mon, 20 Nov 2023 19:02:50 +0000 https://planetwordmuseum.org/?p=7893 This has been an incredibly hard few weeks for people who care about people, who work for peace, who strive to promote tolerance and understanding…and for people who care about…

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]]> Singular “They” and Language Beyond the Gender Binary: Q&A with Kirby Conrod https://planetwordmuseum.org/singular-they-and-language-beyond-the-gender-binary-qa-with-kirby-conrod/ Wed, 01 Nov 2023 16:18:42 +0000 https://planetwordmuseum.org/?p=7782 With nonbinary and trans identities becoming more mainstream, pronouns have increasingly become a hot topic — particularly singular “they,” which is favored by many nonbinary people. While singular “they” has…

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]]> A Manifesto for Planet Word 2.0 https://planetwordmuseum.org/a-manifesto-for-planet-word-2-0/ Mon, 05 Jun 2023 21:48:51 +0000 https://planetwordmuseum.org/?p=7198 Back in 2013 when we started planning a museum of words and language, it was mainly intended to be a new way to bring disaffected readers back into the fold…

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]]> Linguistic Diversity in D.C. and the “D.C. Dialect”: Q&A with Natalie Schilling https://planetwordmuseum.org/the-d-c-dialect-and-linguistic-diversity-in-d-c-q-a-with-natalie-schilling/ Wed, 24 May 2023 15:47:40 +0000 https://planetwordmuseum.org/?p=7116 Is the word “moe” in your vocabulary? How about “jhi”? If so, you’re likely a D.C. local! Like go-go and mambo sauce, these words are part of the lifeblood of…

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]]> From the Founder: Lessons Passed Down https://planetwordmuseum.org/from-the-founder-lessons-passed-down/ Wed, 08 Jun 2022 16:22:02 +0000 https://planetwordmuseum.org/?p=5528 My favorite gift to newborns is, you guessed it, a book, but one that I especially like to give (along with Pat the Bunny!) is any edition of Mother Goose…

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